Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA Invests $949,000 in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA bought a new stake in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,540 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $949,000. Deere & Company makes up 1.1% of Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DE. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1,180.0% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 64 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Deere & Company by 725.0% in the first quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 66 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Deere & Company in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Deere & Company during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 68.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Deere & Company Price Performance

DE traded up $4.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $381.18. 1,197,519 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,540,044. Deere & Company has a 1-year low of $340.20 and a 1-year high of $423.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The business's 50-day moving average price is $367.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $379.89.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The industrial products company reported $6.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.63 by $0.66. The firm had revenue of $11.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 42.26% and a net margin of 16.15%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Deere & Company will post 25.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a $1.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Deere & Company's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Deere & Company news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 13,370 shares of Deere & Company stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.63, for a total value of $5,048,913.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 41,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,725,268.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on DE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Deere & Company from $402.00 to $389.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $443.00 price objective (up from $439.00) on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Deere & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Deere & Company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $420.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $371.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $415.50.

Deere & Company Company Profile

Deere & Company engages in the manufacture and distribution of various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides large and medium tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and loaders, harvesting front-end equipment, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.

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